Apparatus for forming hollow ware of paper.



E. G. WILLARD,

APPARATUS FOR FORMING HOLLOW WARE OF PAPER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 12, 1913.

Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E. e. WILLARD. APPARATUS FOR FORMING HOLLOW WARE OF PAPER.

APPLICATION FILED APR- 1219M.

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3 Q S S w J l M M m STATE rnrnnr canton.

EDWARD e. WILLARD,- or naminron, onrnnro, CANADA.

APPARATUS FOR FORMING HOLLOW WARE OF PAPER.

Application filed April 12, 1913. Serial No. 760,813.

vary greatly in thickness at different parts of the ware, including paper cups, bottles and the like as well as the egg trays disclosed in thesaid patent.

' Briefly my process consists in forming m shapes or forms of perforated metal or wire 'gauze which are supported on hollow chambers in which a vacuum may be maintained as desired. These forms are immersed in paper pulp suspended in water until a suiticient thickness of pulp has been accumulated on the forms. The forms are then withdrawn from the pulp and the action of the suction suspended. The formsxwith their accumulated coatings of pulp are then detached from the vacuum chambers and laid aside for the pulp to dry.

Preferably the vacuum chambers are carried on a rotary reel whereby the processmay be made continuous, as while some 5 forms are acquiring their coating others are being removed with their coatings and fresh forms applied to the chambers from which they have been removed, substantially as hereinafter described. and illuseo trated in the accompanying drawings in which--- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine used in carrying out my process; Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same; Fig. 3 is a face view of the hub to which the vacuum chambers are. secured. Fig. 4 is a cross-section on an enlarged scale of one of the vacuum chambers with a form applied thereto.

In the drawings like figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different 1 is a tank in which is placed paperpulp suspended in water. Suitably journaled on the bearings 2. on the walls of the tank is a shaft 3, which is driven from any suitable.

source of power through the medium of the gearing 4'. On this shaft is secured the hub 5 in which are formed a series of passages 6 opening through the periphery of and also through one side of the hub. Into the peripheral openings of these passages are screwed a series of tubular arms 7, each carrying at its outer end'a vacuum chamber 8 with the interior of which the bore of the arm communicates. Each chamber is open at its outer side and is adapted to have a' form 9 of wire gauze applied thereto. This gauze is shaped to suit the form of the article it is desired to produce, in the present casean egg carrier such as is shown in the prior patent hereinbefore referred to.

The form 9 is held in place by means of the frame 10 hinged on the chamber preferably at the side nearest the shaft. This frame rests on the edges of the form and holds the edges down against the edges of the walls of the vacuum chamber. These frames it is evident must be raised andlowered to enable forms to be placed in posi tion or removed as may be necessary. 1 prefer to employ the means shown, an arm 11 being extended from the hinged side of each frame and provided with a counterbalancing weight 12.

When the chambers 8 are carried about the shaft 3 by the rotation of the latter each one occupies consecutively the positions shown in Fig. 1.- It is evident that when the chambers are in the lower positions shown, the weights tend to hold the frames closed, whereas as the chambers approach and pass the highest position the weights will open the frame as shown. The left hand side of the apparatus, shown in Fig. 1', is therefore the side at which forms will be removed and replaced.

To insure the closing of the frames 10 as the vacuum chambers approach the liquid in the tank I prefer to arrange a bracket 13 projecting into the path of the weights 12, .or any'other suitable part of the arms 11, so as to contact with the same and tip each one over to cause the closure of the frames. The bracket 13 is continued as the track forming an arc of a circle struck form a center in the axis of the shaft 3. This track by its engagement with the weights 12 securely holds the frames closed independent of the vacuum. The process requires that a vacuum be alternately created and removed in each of saidchambers, the vacuum being createdas soon as the chamber with at i to i

its form is immersed in the fluid in the tank and removed after the chamber is removed 7 ing means: An annular chamber 14 is supported about the shaft 3 preferably by being secured to a bracket 15 extending from one wall of the tank. With this chamber communicates a pipe 16 which in practice will be connected with a "suitable a1r pump. The chamber is so proportioned that the openings of the passages 6 are directly opposite the annular space of the chamber. To regulate the times at which suction takes place or is relieved I provide in the annular chamber 14 a fixed abutment 17 and a movable abutment 18, this latter determining the point at which the vacuum is created in the vacuum chambers as they move down into the liquid.

The mode of carrying out my process by means of the mechanism described will now be readily understandable. The apparatus is suitably driven and the pipe 16 connected with an air pump in operation. As each vacuum chamber approaches the left hand side of the machine, as shown'in Fig. 1, a

form is placed in position and the correspondlng frame 10 closed to hold the form in place and to so clamp its edges to the walls of the vacuum chamber as to prevent the passage of air through these edges. Each vacuum chamber with its form is in turn plunged beneath the surface of the pulp in suspension in the tank. As each vacuum chamber passes beneath the surface of the liquid, a partial vacuum is created therein which tends to suck the suspended pulp and liquid through the Wire gauze of the forms. The pulp, however, is caught on the wire forms, being strained off from the liquid which tends to pass through the gauze. A layer of pulp thus accumulates on the form and the thickness of this layer depends on the amount of suction, the time of immersion and the amount of pulp in suspension. As each vacuum chamber passes out of the solution the suction is relieved and the fluid drains ofi therefrom. When each form returns to the initial position the form is removed with its coating of pulp and carried off to a suitable drying rack while a new form is placed in position ready for a repetition of the operation. The process it will beseen therefore consists in forming a fluid containing paper pulp in suspension, immersing the porous form therein, maintaining a partial vacuum or suction behind the said form while it is immersed in order to cause a deposit of .pulp' thereon. This process it is evident canbe carried out by apparatus other than that shown anddesc ibed, and is also applicable to many other forms of hollow paper Ware than that referred to.

. It is preferable I find to maintain the. suction as long as possible after the form is removed from the fluid, to compact the pulp on the surface'of the form, and remove as much water as possible What I claim as my invention is 1. In apparatus for making paper hollowware, the combination of a tank; a shaft journaled over the same; a hub secured to said'shaft; a plurality of passages formed in said hub each extending through its pcriphery and through one end; an annular chamber fixedly supported in contact with the end of the hub and in communication with the aforesaid passages; an exhaust pipe communicating with said chamber; abutments in said chamber limiting the seg ment thereof in communication with the exhaust pipe; means for adjusting one of said abutments circumferentially of' the chamber to vary the length of the segment there of in communication with the exhaust; hollow arms connected to said hub in communication with said passages; vacuum chambers carried by said arms, each open at one side; and porous forms applied to the open sides of said chambers.

2. In apparatus for making paper hollowware, the combination of a tank; a shaft; a hub secured thereto; hollow arms carried by said hub; means for creating suction in said arms while the apparatus is in motion; vacuum chambers carried by said arms each open at one side; removable porous forms applied to the open sides of said chambers; hinged frames adapted to hold said forms in place; and counterbalancing weights connected with said frames adapted to open the latter to release the forms when the latter by the rotation of the apparatus are brought to the place of discharge.

3. In apparatus for making paper hollowware,the combination of a tank; a shaft; a hub secured thereto; hollow arms carried by said hub; means for creating suction in said arms while the apparatus is in motion; Vacuum chambers carried by said arms each open at one side; removable porous forms applied to the open sides of said chambers; hinged frames adapted to hold said forms in place; counterbalancing weights connected with said frames adapted to open the latter to release the forms when the latter by the rotation of the apparatus are brought to the place of discharge; and a bracket suitably supported to contact with parts rocking with said frames to rock the frames to their closed position previous to submersion in the tank.

4. In apparatus for making paper hollowware,'the combination of a tank;;a shaft; a hub secured thereto; hollow arms carried by said hub; means for creating suction in closed position previous to submersion in the tank; and an are shaped extension of said bracket adapted by engagement with 15 said parts to hold the frames closed independent of the effects of the vacuum or of the Weights.

Toronto this 26th day of Mar. 1913.

EDWARD Gr. WILLARD,

Signed in the presence of J..EDW. MAYBEE, E. P. HALL. 

